Hay making 2013 - photo diary

Moving a flock? That’s the easy bit….

What we are most worried about is setting up broadband and taking deliveries at a farm where there is no mobile reception.  This is what is currently keeping me up at night.

With all house moves there are the ‘knowns’ and the ‘unknowns’.  The biggest known is the amount of oxygen we are going to need for all the deep breaths required for being on the other end of the phone speaking to someone about installing our lifeline for our business, broadband.  These conversations will need to be had half way up the hill away from the house and chances are in a rain shower.

Despite these ‘knowns’ we remain incredibly excited and focussed on the time beyond the initial start up teething pains.  Teething is a regular word in our house at the moment as I frantically race around trying to find anything which will relieve Freddie’s poor little gums.

Daily sheep checks are now last thing in the day when it is cool enough for them to graze.  They are all looking really well and what a contrast to last year when it was so wet!  We never had consecutive days of good weather so we can hardly believe our eyes when the 5 day forecast has full suns everyday!  The lambs will be weaned off their Mums fairly soon so we are busy planning the next months grazing plan to keep the lambs in good condition.

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

A new chapter at Saddlescombe Farm

We have some news....we are moving to Sussex in September to take on the National Trust tenancy at Saddlescombe Farm. We are so excited. 180 hectares, a mixture of permanent pasture, temporary grass and arable, in the South Downs, 5 miles north of Brighton.  It is a whole new chapter for us and we are looking forward to sharing it with you all.

To say the last 4 months have been intense would be an understatement. Applying for a farm tenancy and being offered it, having a baby and then the hardest lambing season we've had yet due to toxoplasmosis and the weather, we will look back and smile, but not quite yet, it is still a bit raw.

We leave our first tenancy here with the Earth Trust in Oxfordshire who gave us the opportunity to get on the farming ladder through their initiative called Farmstep. 4 years down the track we've built up a successful direct marketing business where we sell all our lamb through farmers markets, private orders and a couple of local pubs and village shops.  We've made wonderful friends and have some lovely customers who we hope we will keep through our online shop!

The business model is not entirely transferrable but elements we have built up will be, such as our shepherd for the day experience. We hope to offer bed and breakfast with it too so guests can do the night slots during lambing should they so wish.  One significant element of our new business plan is having an Environmental Stewardship (ELS &HLS) agreement in place. So far it has been a steep learning curve of stewardship jargon, all the different FEP codes for a start which determine the condition of the fields. The permanent pasture was found to have some interesting species, so much of it can be restored through particular options. The option codes too have taken some getting used to but we think we are more or less fluent and can hold our own.

At the moment we know the farm only through codes and maps. We can't wait to get to know the fields for their individual quirks and name them.  It does feel strange making cropping decisions for a farm we don’t even know yet.

We've made contact with our new farming neighbours who are already proving invaluable with their local knowledge of the soil, climate and other contacts we will need. We will miss our neighbours here, you can't put a price on sharing local knowledge, experiences and grumbles.

But how do you move a farm? I have visions of our sheepdog Belle doing some fantastic manoeuvres down the M40 and our tractor causing the biggest traffic jam! 

 

More soon

 

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

Lambing 2013

Here are some of our favourite photos and highlights from this years lambing . . .

 

Lambing 2013...

....is almost over.  Another rollercoaster!  One thing which sticks in my mind from last year is our vet students Mel and Akash being in the lambing sheds in t shirts, this year it has been woolly hats, gloves and scarves, it couldn't have been more different!  We've had snow, sleet and a bitter easterly wind that has made turning ewes and lambs out hard and we are waiting for the grass to start growing.  We are still feeding the ewes outside with hay but fingers crossed the weather looks like it is getting a little milder which will help the grass to start growing.

A major highlight of this year has been all the lovely people we've had join us to be shepherds for the day or for an evening in the lambing barn.  Thank you to all of you for coming and getting stuck in and spending time with us and our flock.  Here is some of the feedback we have had -

To have seen a dozen or so lambs born and to have been able to take part was a real treat. If only I could have started this when I was younger, beats sitting at a desk all day - Diane, Luton, Bedfordshire

Just wanted to say a big thank you for the amazing day we had on Tuesday shepherding with you. We both loved it and were so happy to be so involved in all the activities of the day. It was a day we won't forget - Janet, Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire

A big thank you for a wonderful evening. Bill, Michael and myself thoroughly enjoyed it and to have the chance to help deliver a lamb was something I will never forget, it was absolutely magical.  I'm sure if you hold the evenings again next year we will be there as we enjoyed it so much we didn't want to leave :) – Debbie, Bill and Mike, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Just wanted to say thank you so much for an amazing day!  I’ve always had physical jobs, love to be hands on. Delivering lambs, what an amazing experience. I’ve not stopped smiling!!!  I admire your commitment, it’s a way of life for you, not a job but allowing people like myself to taste and experience a morsel of your lives is awesome.  I will recommend this and your lamb to everyone!!!

Thanks so much again! - Mandie, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

I know Mandie has already contacted you to thank you for the amazing sheep day we were lucky enough to come to, I also had a wonderful day and I’m so glad Tracey had the bright idea of arranging it for my 40th Birthday. It was so good to get involved with it all and it was a present that I shall remember for ever you really do get a proper feel for it.  Thanks again for a great, well informed and organised day.
p.s Great cookies on a very cold day.
p.p.s Any chance of keeping Lamb number 40 he was so cute - Chris, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Our great friend Ben also came down to visit us with his boys Sam and Jack.  Will and Izzy from Ben's agency came to do some recording and you can see how they got on here More soon and we'll post some photos of the lambs enjoying the new spring grass which we hope will be growing soon!

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

Well done Basil!

We are so proud of Basil! We think these are just the sweetest lambs with their woolly knees just like their Dad! Lambing is in full swing and we have had some wonderful twins, triplets and even a set of quadruplets! The only downer is the weather...we had snow on Sunday, so understandably we didn't have the visitor numbers but we're hoping this weekend will be warmer so do come and see us and say hello to the lambs.

We have put our first trailer of ewes and lambs outside and they are doing well, the ewes are just so happy to be outside eating the grass which we hope will have the chance to grow once the weather warms up, come on spring! we're all waiting for you!

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle

A tricky start but all is well...

Lambing started earlier than was scheduled and it has been a worrying 10 days. We've had some sad losses which were unusual, enough to make us get a post mortem done which we are awaiting the results for. However, we hope we're not speaking too soon but we think we've turned a corner and have had some wonderful lambs over the last couple of days. I took this photo this morning of Roly and Molly taking some lambs outside to bask in the sunshine!

Henry our first ever orphan lamb was the first to be turned outside, mainly because she is so demanding! Always wanting to be be fed and behaves like such a diva! We can't help being fond of her though, as she is such a character. You can spot her in the photo, she has the blue number 1 on her side.

5 sets of triplets have been born today, all doing well. Come along and see them this weekend or the following weekend when we are open to visitors. We also have a few spaces left on our 'evening in the lambing barns', so get in touch if you would like to book a place. Visit our website for more details www.camillaandroly.co.uk

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie, Boris and Belle